Thousands Attend Oakland Officers' Funeral

JESSE McKINLEY

Saturday

Mar 28, 2009 at 4:26 AM

The day of a shootout that left four police officers dead was the deadliest in the Oakland, Calif., force’s history.

OAKLAND, Calif. — Thousands of mourners and police officers from around the country came to pay their respects Friday at a wrenching public funeral for four Oakland officers slain in a weekend shootout.

The day of the shooting was the deadliest in the history of this city’s police force, and the grief was palpable both outside the 19,200-seat Oracle Arena, where residents waited hours to enter, and inside, where four flag-draped coffins lay. In front of each coffin was a photograph of the slain officer.

“Their images in our minds will be our only comfort in this sorrow,” said the acting police chief, Howard A. Jordan, adding, “They were exemplary men and outstanding police officers.”

All sworn officers and administrative staff members of the police department were given time off to attend the funeral, with personnel from other departments and local sheriff’s deputies covering their shifts. Police headquarters was closed until late afternoon, with a line of police cars from other jurisdictions parked in front. Nearby, a pile of flowers and handmade tributes covered the sidewalk. One read, “We Support OPD.”

The service was held at the arena, home to the Golden State Warriors basketball team, just two miles from where the four officers were gunned down by a 26-year-old parolee, Lovelle Mixon. The police said Mr. Mixon was a prime suspect in a recent rape.

Mr. Mixon was pulled over by two motorcycle police officers, Sgt. Mark Dunakin, 40, and Officer John Hege, 41, shortly after 1 p.m. last Saturday while driving through East Oakland, and soon began shooting. Sergeant Dunakin died at the scene; Officer Hege died later at a hospital.

Mr. Mixon fled, only to barricade himself in a building, where he fatally shot two SWAT team members, Sgt. Ervin Romans, 43, and Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 35. A third officer at the scene was injured.

Mr. Mixon, who had a warrant out for his arrest, was also killed.

The spasm of violence has shaken Oakland, which has struggled with crime, and led to calls for stronger supervision of the state’s 124,000 parolees.

On Friday, rank-and-file officers and high-ranking officials alike — as well as members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police — flooded the arena to capacity, with spillover crowds sitting in the adjacent Oakland Coliseum. The mix touched on every area of law enforcement, including canine units, game wardens and paramedics.

Timothy Ritzenthaler, a member of the police force in Austin, Tex., said he and three other officers drove for 30 hours to attend the funeral. A motorcycle officer, Mr. Ritzenthaler said the shootings had struck a deep chord.

“When you stop someone, you just never know who is in the car,” he said. “It could be that you stop someone with a license that needs to be renewed and they have an assault rifle. You just can’t know.”

Scores of local, state, and federal officials from California also attended, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. President Obama sent a letter, read to the crowd, expressing condolences for the four men lost.

“Their commitment to their fellow man will never be forgotten,” the president’s letter read.

Some city leaders, including Mayor Ron Dellums, have suggested that the shooting might provide impetus for more cooperation between the police and the public, a relationship that has occasionally been strained in Oakland. At one point on Friday, the crowd applauded when Capt. Ed Tracey mentioned the people who had called 911 to report that officers had been shot and one person who had tried to revive one of the officers.

The funeral was covered live by most local television stations, and the morning and afternoon rush-hour traffic in the area ground to a halt as the police escorted family members in a lengthy motorcade.

One of those who attended was Kit Pon, 76, a retired home-care nurse from San Leandro, who carried four purple irises, one for each of the slain officers. “My heart just feels so, so sad,” Ms. Pon said.

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